Book Review: Bloggers Unplugged

A blog is very frequently referred to as an individual’s online diary. While the essence of this statement is true, it’s not all that easy going – speaking from experience of doing both. I have been writing a diary since I was a child, scribbling away every night about my day, about the highlights of my life and about my wants and desires. I used to write as if I was chatting to my best friend! Gradually, the nightly ritual diminished to few days a week, which turned into months (when I had too much built up and just had to spill!) and now it has completely stopped. Time seems to fall short always.

Blogging is all the above and much, much more. One must create fresh content on a regular basis which may or may not be inspired from their own life. Then there are the technicalities which sometimes seem like a burden – “Can’t I just write and the rest will work out eventually?”. Well, not really – there’s a lot to look out for and take care of if you aim to be a serious blogger. This is what author Ruchi Verma explains in her book Bloggers Unplugged – “a sneak peek into bloggers’ life”.

About the Book

The book contains “26 Lessons from Bloggers Life” (from the book cover) where blogger Ruchi Verma explains all there is to know about being a successful blogger. Ruchi is a multiple award-winning blogger who’s been in this field for 7 years. So, she speaks entirely from her experience when she enlists 26 ways to help a blogger; giving an idea of what goes into creating and maintaining a blog.

A Wellspring of Information

“There are many budding bloggers, new bloggers who love to put in their hard work but still not aware of some or many terms. This book will give them a ray of guidance to work better in their blogging journey.”

I am a new blogger – just started out last year. And I am the perfect model of what Ruchi says in her preface as quoted above. I work hard at creating content, trying to make each post look interesting, taking part in campaigns to increase exposure but I barely know most of the terms and what they stand for that I, as a blogger, should be aware of.

Each chapter of this book is about a term – technical or generic or commercial – which a blogger needs to know about. It explains about what the term stands for, why it is important and how a blogger needs to go about executing it AND a secret tip at the end of each chapter.

There’s a fountain of information in each chapter, and all of it’s related to a) how to write better content and why it’s necessary, b) how to promote a blog, or) how to keep track of how well the blog’s doing and then take steps to improve on it. There’s also DOs and DONTs which every blogger must follow.

There are terms I know about but don’t always follow, but after this book I plan to explore them and incorporate them, like:

• Google Analytics, Domain Authority and Page Authority (from Growth chapter)
• Adding keywords – long tail, short and medium (she explains with example in Keywords chapter)
• Media Kit

The Illustrations

Every chapter is accompanied by her illustration which I adore – they are cute, funny and to-point. They demonstrate how a blogger’s mind work vis-à-vis a normal person. I like the effort and thought that has gone behind these pictures.

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I would also have liked…

Some small measure of feedback: Not all chapters have examples to drive home the point of those terms and that is something I would have liked in the book. And, for the Themes chapter, a step by step guide would have helped better for newcomers and to-be bloggers. Additionally, an introductory chapter on how to start the blog, from setup to first post would have been a superb help.

To Conclude…

The book is a mine of knowledge which any blogger will be happy to use as a guide. So, definitely go check out the book if you are a blogger or aim to be one (secretly or otherwise!). Download the book here.

This review was written as part of Blogchatter Book Review Program especially the Ebook Carnival series.